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Why Being Gay Is a Hard Play in Rugby

8/30/2013 4:13AM

The Australian Rugby Union says it will develop a policy to combat homophobia building up to the 2014 Bingham Cup tournament, the unofficial gay rugby World Cup, being played in Sydney. Andrew Purchas, president of Bingham Cup Sydney 2014, tells the WSJ’s Deborah Kan how difficult it is for players to come out while playing professional rugby.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... the ... I like being in says it will adopt a policy to stamp out home of ... the eye and the run-up to ... the twenty fourteen began the rugby path ... I'm I'm Deborah con joining me now is the answer purchase is the founder and the Sydney comets which is the first had gained ... rugby club I'm ... in a sissy you and tag at the start with a little bit of history behind this um ... I know why why was this club found it yes this is the beats ... me was that this guy a variety of beans see me ... please Mr area there were living the good rugby of sales when around the well he's the Steelers in London went ... for the first and I'm ... the thing seems that private on the scene mansions to and sentences don't Alliance get with your server or thereabouts scenes around the full context of a dumped ... our stuff and this is the convicts initially tudung compete in the second thing ... which was ... played in London ... in two thousand and four I played in the first being incompetent and sentenced to two thousand soon analysts ... might ... actually played ... rugby with not being that it helps nine Dr and ... I had such a fantastic experience implying that this thing happened really saw how or what was to ... sing sing to compete in a competition that that I actually have an opportunity to claim the tournament ... and with like one of people playing tough rugby in lower Manhattan had the opportunity to play ... context Fortinet ... and you know in in in in a team sport by one before ... and you know there was an enormous opportunity in front ... and back to see him much either and it was in the London to Mosley winning a look ... yes he's got a lot of guys and the fiddle playing rugby said we should be represented ... ok and how they love the meaning ... of easing the team has been ... around for quite awhile now so ... I used to do you think that actually people are more accepting and and gave NBA players and things getting better or are they getting worse ... see Jesus in the can it be that the you know what we've seen dancing ... there ... was the plans would not be plain people was in the club ... and the oblong when necessarily feeling that welcoming the slopes of the green ... and ... you know that all of the moment come from the Mistry info bowls of some come from software out that the company a recipe ... for Italy ... and so you know I think what's the what's been pretty clear is that the sexy given the opportunity to play ... do you play the guy Foster listening to my daughter roundup of rugby ... would notice a little comfortable knowing implying a regular rugby club ... and without mystery no one knowing that the name and city really feeling comfortable with the sexuality in ensuring that everyone in the other entrants would be happy with the ... mega sporting don't know they didn't I didn't know that ... these ... things is only getting better I mean I played to the stride rite the year in Sydney ... and for seniors this see more of a perennially of St ... you know I find within ... seven in the nineties that sort of that thing you can get why isn't the same as it was a complete anathema ... so I think you know since then we've come an enormous distance that a long long line ... the fact is that they're still has pain in adults elite football play in this trial yet ... since nine minus ten housing markets and nine and it's just it's it's ... unbelievable to think that that is that the cuts into the not so writes Matt ... Bailey ... a simple buy and never cut to have both come from were coming up the ISO and the fact that they are at Australia might mean it is now saying that it said it will indeed adopt policies and against homophobia ... I mean how I can get back and do you feel like that's necessary what exactly are the policies going to say ... yes it's true it's certain to meet ... Mr Elliott ... psst for use on Atlas in the ... grandest the football heroes ... absolute gulps the the the sporting organizations that run there's this one it's ... a hugely influential ... so I think to have found the ... field the the official body coming out and saying you know that that that there's not a role for homophobia ... Paulson a bunch of them to cut costs in prison regions of the guy ... who come on board to be and bass this as well be ... a leading role models of the fact that you actually ... you need to leave and raise the kind of the um the understanding of the third perspective people's sexuality ... and so I think it's very important yes so much to say that it's symbolic but ... often a symbolic scenes out this the kind of activity that will go down the track so we where its stock units with them and suspended the new building hundred rough because ... but we would expect that they would be using that there are ... no there was a nice tartness about what ... people can ... say that you know to be trading it for me ... no one called when one of the of applying ... tough rugby just like everyone else ... however I think that it's important that I will understand that ... you know there are things people sign it and there you can create environments with that woman to come fortuitously the winner of that ... okay thanks Fran that's and if registering us from Sydney for more on that star a competitive J dot com and ever ...